James Madison

"The Constitution created a government of limited powers."

"History will record our struggle for liberty and self-government."

"The Constitution gives to the President merely the power of execution, not of legislation."

"No truth is more established in the science of human nature than this."

"The advancement of learning is the best inheritance we can leave posterity."

"The rights of individuals must be respected within a framework of law and order."

"The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money."

"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm of government."

"A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people."

"The safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and influence of good religion and morality."

"Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free one."

"The truth is, that all nations have at some period or other of their existence found it necessary to suppress insurrections or rebellions."

"Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things."

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his abilities and convenience to contribute to the defense of the State."

"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

"The purpose of separation of powers is not to avoid difficulty but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power."

"Wars against public opinion cannot be long supported."

"The free system of government rests on an enlightened electorate."

"Conscience is the most sacred of all property."

"The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man."

"There is not a shadow of right in the general government to interpose its prerogatives in the enumerated powers ceded to it."

"What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great nation."

"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society."

"The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests."

"The protection of these faculties is the first object of government."

"As long as the reason of man continues fallible his opinions will be discordant."

"The real power of government lies in its moral authority."

"Despotism can only exist in darkness and must perish when light is introduced."

"The multiplicity of sects which pervades America is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society."